| All-new Model Preview | Frankfurt Motor Show | BMW 1 Series Coupé |

BMW is really taking its time finishing off the 1 Series range. The three-door hatch has just gone on sale, following its dumpier five-door sibling to market by a full three years and today we can bring you the very first official details of the rumoured 1 Series Coupé.

What a revelation! Although we like the 1 Series concept, the profile of the hatch and the distinctive body sculpting attracted as much criticism as it did praise, but the new Coupé should silence the critics with a perfectly proportioned, yet muscular new body that manages to banish any of the hatch's awkwardness in return for a more elegant 'mini-3 Series Coupé' shape.

At launch, there will be three engine variants, including a 120d Coupé and a range-topping 135i Coupé fitted with BMW's sublime new twin-turbo straight-six. The latter endows the compact new sportster with 302bhp to feed to its rear tyres. Even bigger news than the creation of a baby M-car (in all but name) is the world debut of another ground-breaking diesel unit.

The so-called 123d Coupé will house an all-new 2-litre turbodiesel, featuring not one, but two turbochargers in a system BMW calls Variable Twin Turbo (VTT), which essentially is the same technique used on the twin-turbo six-cylinder diesel unit found in the 535d, etc, where a small turbine is used at low speeds for quick response, where as the larger turbocharger takes on the role of produced more boost when required, but without lag found with most large turbos. This unit is also the first BMW engine to feature piezo-injectors in the common-rail direct injection system, with fuel pressures of up to 2,000 bar and multiple injections possible per cycle.

To the buyer, that translates into output of up to 201bhp and 295lb.ft of torque, with the latter available from 2,000 - 2,250rpm. BMW claims that the 123d Coupé will hit 62mph from rest in 7.0 seconds dead, but no doubt this car's strength will be in-gear acceleration, coming mighty close to some of the figures produced by the 135i Coupé. On top of that, the Combined Cycle fuel economy is an incredible 54.3mpg and a commendable CO₂ emissions figure of 138g/km, thanks in part to the adoption of BMW's new EfficientDynamics technology.

Until we see pricing for the new 1 Series Coupé it will be difficult to choose a suitable set of rivals, but cars such as the Audi TT and Nissan 350Z are likely to be among them, but so too may top-end versions of the VW Golf and even the Audi S3. It's a fairly unique car in the market, especially with its rear-wheel drive layout. We can't wait to try it out on the road.

Shane O' Donoghue - 1 Jul 2007